A 24 year-old man has been ordered to pay nearly £5,000 after being found guilty of transporting controlled waste without a waste carriers licence.

On 27 February 2019, at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court, Gyula Ruszo was fined £1,760, ordered to pay Environment Agency Costs of £2,995 as well as a victim surcharge of £170.

Mr Ruszo, of Kennington Road Nottingham, was caught transporting controlled waste without a licence during Operation Transporter, a multi-agency road stop on the A612 at Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire. Police directed him to pull in at the layby checkpoint where his vehicle was examined and Mr Ruszo was interviewed by an Environment Agency officer.

The vehicle was seized by police as it was found to be un-roadworthy, had no MOT and the driver Mr Ruszo had no insurance. The van was carrying various items of scrap metal including a copper hot water tank, lengths of copper piping, a washing machine, lead flashing and a metal lawn mower.

Anyone transporting waste as part of their normal business, whether it is their waste or someone else’s, has to have a Waste Carriers Licence.

This was the second hearing of the case after Mr Ruszo failed to turn up to the first hearing in January 2019. The case was rearranged for 27 February 2019, but Mr Ruszo again failed to attend and the case was heard in his absence.

Speaking after the case, Waste Regulatory Specialist Iain Regan, who is lead for Operation Transporter in the Environment Agency said:

This is an excellent result for the Environment Agency, which we are pleased to share with our professional partners; the Police and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency who we work closely with on Op Transporter.

This case makes it clear to anyone who may be in any doubt about the need to register for a licence to carry waste that if you transport waste in Nottinghamshire you may be stopped and your waste carrier registration checked. The penalties for failing to have a waste carriers licence can be significant and it is not worth the risk. Registration can be applied for easily on-line, or by phone.

We want householders and businesses to only use licensed waste carriers which offers greater assurance that any waste will be properly and legally managed. We hope that cases such as this one show legitimate waste carriers that we are taking action against the rogue traders and free riders.